Family Dinner

I’m off to the weekly Family Dinner at the Coles’ house in a little while, and I’m pretty excited about the new potato-corn chowder recipe and brownie-and-cookie bars I whipped up for tonight! The Coles are out of town and asked Michael and I to “guest host” for them.

I haven’t had much luck lately with trying out new recipes (or cooking in general!), but I am feeling good about this potato-corn chowder concoction. I got up early to cook it, and then had some for lunch. I think it might be slightly more than edible, but of course I’ll have lots of critics tonight to contend with. As for the brownie-and-cookie bars, I do have high hopes for accolades (unless people find out that I ate probably 1/4 of them before they arrived on the table).

What is Family Dinner? It is basically a gathering friends, and friends-of-friends, that meets every Thursday night at the Cole family home. Michael and I look forward to seeing our friends and meeting new ones at Family Dinner all week long. Singles, couples, small children, coworkers and family are all invited. In fact, anyone and everyone is invited. There is no guest list, just an open door and a potluck request. We usually have at least two or three children and infants in attendance.

I have only been in Houston full time for nine months now, but I am finally starting to feel able to call this place a home. Especially since we have been pregnant, our friends have been a new kind of “family” for us here. Maybe that’s part of the reason why Michael and I are both loathe these days to ever miss “Family Dinner.”